Chapter 3

The Kinlan house was like all the other family homes on the base. They were a middle-aged married couple with one child. Each of them had been in the service since leaving high school and it was rather apparent by the orderly state of their home. The Kinlans themselves had briefly said hello and then disappeared into a mingling of clinking cocktail glasses and gossip.

Having long before chosen not to partake in drinking Lydecker found himself at a loss in the loud living room. He spotted a back door and removed himself from the riffraff into the cold November night.

The porch light was off, but enough illumination came through the windows to allow him to see his surroundings. He took a seat on the bench that ran along the wall.

"Didn't like the party?" a voice asked from the shadows.

Lydecker cursed inside for not noticing the other person on the porch. He squinted slightly in the dim light to make out the teenage girl leaning against the railing at the edge of the porch.

"You do that often when you look at people?" The girl questioned. "You might want to have your eyes examined." There was a faint spot of orange light in the darkness that faded and the smell of tobacco smoke wafted through the cold air.

"You might want to consider another habit. Those things will kill you," Lydecker said, settling for speaking to the shadows for now.

The girl laughed. "There are a lot of things in this world that can kill you." She took another puff. "Guns, car accidents, disease. You can only run for so long."

"Still," Lydecker mused. "You're a little young to be smoking. Or talking like that."

She flashed a pearly white smile and stepped out of the darkness. Dropping the cigarette on the floor, she stamped it out with the heel of her boot. "My dad would kill me if he found out. I don't do it that often. You're not going to tell on me are you?"

Lydecker studied her for a moment. She was definitely a pretty young woman. Blue eyes, dark hair. "What's your name?"

"You mean they didn't get around to me in the round of introductions my dad usually does whenever we have company. Even if the said person is not there he likes to introduce the guests to a photograph. Must have been what he did when I was gone."

"If he did I didn't catch your name," Lydecker added. "And whatever deviance you've committed, I'll leave that between you and your parents."

The girl smiled again. She stepped closer and held out her hand. "My name's Ivy."

Lydecker shook her hand instinctively. "Donald Lydecker." He suddenly felt something pushing at the back of his mind. "Have we met before?"

Ivy suddenly pulled her hand from his. She stared at him with a look of utter confusion on her face. She shook her head, composure coming back to her face. "I don't think so. I've never been to Wyoming before two weeks ago."

"I didn't mean to upset you," Lydecker admitted. She did look familiar though.

"No," Ivy said, shaking her head. "I've just had this migraine all day. Excuse me." She walked back into the house, slamming the door.


Ivy sped through the crowd of people drinking cocktails in her family's living room and ran up the stairs. She did not stop until the door of her bedroom slammed shut and she collapsed against it. Her mind was in a daze as she stared around the room. She could not shake the feeling that had hit the moment that man had said his name.

She'd felt her heart skip a beat. Lydecker. The name was in her earliest memories. She reached back into her mind and tried to recall it. The only thing that rose in her mind and heart was a sense of dread. Her conscious mind was blocking out the rest for some reason. The man seemed nice enough.

Ivy sighed. She told herself it was probably nothing. It still did not shake the sudden feeling that was filling her body. The adrenaline was pumping through her as she noticed how swiftly her heart was beating.

Ivy went to the mirror on the wall and checked her appearance. She wiped at the tears that were beginning to trail mascara down her cheeks. Taking a deep breath, she straightened the dress she had finally thrown on at her mother's behest.

"Keep it together," she told herself. It had to all be in her head. Maybe her mom was right. Maybe she was just worried about Ryan. Maybe that anxiety and grief was manifesting itself as this uneasiness she felt for the her current location.

The bedroom door opened and Mary popped her head in. "Ivy? Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Ivy nodded, turning from the mirror. "I am."

"Then come on out. There are some people I want you to meet."

"I'll be right there," Ivy said.

Mary smiled and closed the door.


Ivy made her way down the stairs slowly, pausing to take in the crowd that had invited itself into her family's home. There was a blend of fatigues, suits and blue jeans amongst the crowd. She descended the steps and spotted her mom talking to a couple of women in the living room.

"Ivy!" Mary Kinlan put an arm around the girl's shoulders and urged her into the circle of women. "Alice and Lindsay, this is Ivy." She waved a hand towards the two women.

The taller of the two women, a blond, held out her hand to Ivy. "I'm Lindsay. It's nice to meet you Ivy."

"I'm Alice," the other woman said with a wide smile. She took a sip from her liberally filled wine glass. "Your mother's been telling use that you are quite the virtuoso."

"Well..." Ivy was cut off as Lindsay decided to speak.

"How long have you been playing the cello?" Lindsay questioned.

"Since she was eight," Mary added, keeping an arm around Ivy to prevent the girl's longing escape. "She picked it up in no time."

"That's how kids are. Their brains are like sponges when they're young," Alice admired. "How did you end up touring the country?"

Ivy finally smiled. "I was with a youth orchestra. It wasn't like I'm a rock star or anything."

"Orchestra!" Mary laughed. She patted Ivy's shoulder. "She was playing with a string quartet. They played with various orchestras around the country. Ivy worked hard to get into it."

"Thanks, Mom," Ivy said sarcastically. "I never have to brag for myself."

"You must love playing then," Alice remarked. She tilted her head as she looked at Ivy. "You look familiar, Ivy. Could we have met before?"

Ivy swallowed. Unconsciously, she had been thinking the same thing about a few of the other faces in the room. "I don't think so. But it's not the first time I've been asked that. I guess I just have a familiar face."

Alice's gaze hardened as she continued to stare at Ivy. She shook her head. "No. I just get this feeling that we've met before."

Ivy looked at her mother. "My mom would know."

Mary laughed. She turned to Alice. "I honestly wouldn't if you saw her before ten years ago. Jack and I adopted this little one from an orphanage when she was seven. Her parents were killed in the rioting after the Pulse."

"That was a terrible time," Lindsay remarked. She patted Ivy's shoulder. "At least you were one of the luckier ones."

"Were they in the military?" Alice pressed.

Ivy kept her mouth shut and shook her head. She hoped the woman would get the message that she did not want to talk about it.


Still seated outside on the porch, Lydecker was observing the party through the window. He made note of the girl Ivy's return to the crowd. He also noted the apparent apprehension with which she seemed to be approaching people now. She seemed more quiet and reserved now versus the somewhat fiery rebel he thought he had just met.

The girl looked very familiar. And that name. The last person he had known with that name was a little girl. An X5.

Lydecker made himself laugh. Since capturing Brin and running into Max at the genetics conference, he could feel his grip closing in on them. If there was one thing he knew it was never to underestimate their ability to blend in. Was he starting to see his "kids" everywhere if he suddenly suspected the first military brat he met?